Men's Basketball Comeback Is Not Enough As Utah State Wins 61-57

Santa Barbara, Calif - UC Santa Barbara Gauchos overcame a 16-point second half deficit to take a six point lead, but could not hold on and fell just short, as the visiting Utah State Aggies won 61-57. Brandon Payton led the Gauchos scoring with 12 points while Erick Ashe and Derrick Allen added ten points apiece.

UCSB trailed by 12 points at half. They were held to just 25 points on 8-of-20 (40%) from the floor, while the visiting Aggies tallied 37 points on 43.0% shooting from the floor.

Trailing 45-29 with 15:52 remaining in the game, the Gauchos went on a 16-0 run. With 8:43 to go in the second half, the Gauchos ended the 16-0 run to tie the game at 45-45 on a Payton free throw. The Gauchos went up by as many as six with 4:25 remaining at at 57-51, but then the Aggies turned in a 10-0 run of their own to ice the game with the final 61-57.

The Aggies were lead by Shawn Daniels and Tony Brown helping their team with 14 points apiece. Daniels also added ten rebounds and four blocked shots. The Aggies improve their record to 12-5, 3-0 in the Big West, while the Gauchos fall to 4-10, 0-3 in the Big West.

The Gauchos will face off at the Thunderdome against Nevada on Saturday, January 22.